1. Field of the Invention
A garden tool that allows a user to easily remove plants and the growing medium from a container.
2. Prior Art
This invention is in the field of horticultural containers and is specifically directed to the field of seedling flats of the type in which seeds are planted for initial growth into a seedling to be subsequently transplanted in a field. Moreover, this invention may be used in large scale plant containers where the user wishes to easily remove the planting medium and plant.
In large-scale farming or green house operations seeds are initially germinated in a very controlled environment which controls the temperature, humidity, sunlight, seed spacing, and soil type. By controlling the environment, it increases the probability that the seed will germinate and grow into a seedling.
The plant containers that hold the soil or medium are known in the industry as pony packs, trays, flats, etc. These plant containers are often times arranged in arrays or matrixes cells which provide the initial growth area for the plants. Not only do these containers provide a means of retaining the new plant and its growing medium during the initial growth stages of the plant, but furthermore, these containers provide a means for transporting the new plant to its eventual long-term planting situs.
As the new plant develops, its root structure becomes enmeshed in the growth medium, which is held in the planting container. The plant and planting medium must be removed from the planting container in order to plant the new plant in the soil of its long-term growth situs. The user must pull on the plant or damage the planting container. Given the importance of maintaining a healthy root structure and maintaining the growth medium surrounding the root structure, it becomes important that the user be able to remove the root structure from the container with a minimum disruption of the roots and the planting medium.
Traditionally, users have encountered significant difficulties in safely removing the root structure and planting medium from their respective container. When the root structure of each seedling grows to an extent so as to fill the capacity of its container, it becomes difficult to dislodge the seedling and planting medium from the planting container. Such removal frequently results in damage or injury to the seedlings, not to mention the labor costs involved in the removal of the seedlings from such containers for transplantation. In particular, when the roots of the plant become lodged and root-bound to the inside surface of the pack or pot, the roots are liable to tearing and damage during removal from the packs or pots. In many instances, the user grasps the plant by its stem and attempts to pull the plant root structure from the container. In the previously described circumstances, as the user applies more force to the plan stem to secure the plant's removal from the container, he or she oftentimes breaks the stem of the plant, thereby destroying the plant. In addition, the disruption of the association of the root structure and its associated growth medium can prove damaging to the plant and its long-term survivability.
In instances wherein the growth medium is very wet, grasping the stem and pulling on it often results in the root structure being disassociated from its growth medium. This dissociation prejudices the chances of the plant surviving once it is planted in the soil. In other situations, the user compresses the container or damages the plant container prior to extracting the plant root structure from the container. In these instances, the compression may result in damage to the root structure and damage to the plant container. In all these instances considerable damage and loss of plants have occurred due to the lack of available means of safely removing the root structure and accompanying growth medium from its initial growth container.
Consequently, a number of seedling or plant containers have been proposed in recent years in which the containers are made of a plantable material that is directly transplanted into the ground along with the seedlings, requiring no need for removal of the seedlings from the container. While devices of this type have been fairly satisfactory, they do not possess the necessary rigidity to be easily handled without the aid of additional auxiliary support trays or similar containers.
The extremely large number of seedlings transplanted each year has resulted in the fact that even a savings of a fraction of a cent per seedling will result in a substantial increase in the profits of both the farmer and/or the seedling producer. Accordingly, there is a need to devise an arrangement for dislodging a plant root and its associated growth medium from containers of a generally-used size without damaging the plant and further, to remove the plant in an efficient manner.
As such, it would be beneficial to have an invention that would offer a quick and convenient device that would dislodge each plant together with its roots and growth medium in such a manner that separation of the growth medium from the roots does not occur at the time of transplantation. Such a device would increase the survival chances of replanted plants, and root separation from the growth medium during transplanting would certainly be minimized. In addition, this invention could be utilized in a mechanical means or robot processing to remove the plant and planting medium.
One of the greatest cost factors in providing seedlings for transplantation is the labor involved in handling and delivering the seedlings to the user. Specially designed trays for holding the individual seedling pots have consequently been proposed and used for this purpose. Normally, such support members are usable with only one particular type of seedling container and are not compatible with other containers of different sizes, shapes, and dimensions.